Courses

Tips for Giving a Great Presentation

Tips for Giving a Great Presentation

By Kathy Holland, PLCGS Putting together a workshop presentation can be a daunting experience. Presenting the workshop can be downright frightening! But it doesn’t have to be daunting nor frightening. It’s just like talking “shop talk” with co-workers. As genealogists, we are each other’s co-workers, and we all know genealogy. A presentation is just a well-constructed conversation with our fellow genealogists. So, what makes a great presentation? Here are some tips: Know your audience. Yes, we are all genealogists. Although we may all have different experiences, we have a common thread that connects us all. Some of us are beginners, while others are more experienced. Some of us do client work, others write books and blogs. Others are speakers, and others teach. And some do all of these things. But we are all doing genealogy, no matter what. So, be aware that all types of experienced genealogists will be in your audience—and know that even the most experienced are open to learning new things! Watch other presentations—both online and in-person. What techniques are the speakers using? What works, what doesn’t? What techniques can you incorporate into your presentation? Choose your topic. It should be one that you are especially passionate about. One in which you can spend hours talking about. The one that you can become an expert on. One classic example is The Legal Genealogist—that’s Judy Russell. When genealogists think of all things legal in the genealogy community, we immediately think of Judy. She’s that go-to person, and the…

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New Course: Research US Midwestern States Ancestors

  We have a new course starting in May at The National Institute for Genealogical Studies. Written by Cari Taplin, CG, Research: U.S. Midwestern States Ancestors is designed to give students a basic understanding of some of the historical events that occurred in each state, especially events that shaped the state’s history, boundaries, laws, and records. The states included in this course were all part of the Louisiana Purchase of 1803: Arkansas, Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota. Each state is unique in its geographical formation, social attitudes, political structure, ethnicity, industry and historical records. The modules included are aimed at giving researchers information to aid understanding of these states individually and to provide tools for researching family history, not only in terms of the individual, but also in their broader social context. Professional genealogist and course author Cari Taplin, CG points out, “As the country expanded from east to west, our ancestors traveled through and sometimes stayed in the midwestern states. Researching in those states is vital to most family history research. The rich and unique history of each state is interesting and can be very rewarding. Learning about the nuances of the region will improve your research skills and bring life to your genealogy.” To learn more about this course, see our website. Research: U.S. Midwestern States Ancestors starts May 2nd. Register today!

Copyright, Plagiarism, And Fair Use: A Genealogist’s Not So Simple Guide To The Truth

By Shannon Combs Bennett, Student For those of you who have read my blog posts here for the past 2 years you are going to realize this post is different from my past posts. Today’s post is a subject that I am not sure gets enough real coverage in the genealogical field. I don’t want you to feel like I am beating the proverbial dead horse here, but since it is still brought up, maybe there is a disconnect on the issue somewhere. We all know that we shouldn’t plagiarize. We all know that there is this thing out there called “fair use.”  But what those terms actually mean seems to be where the confusion lies. As an example, a friend recently posted on Facebook a conversation she had with a stranger. She graciously wrote the encounter up and allowed me to republish it here (for privacy reasons, please do not tag her name if you know who it is): I spoke with a woman this morning who had recently taken down her business blogs because she was tired of people complaining about copyright infringement over her using pictures from magazines and things she’d found online. After all, she said rather indignantly, why would they put things online if they didn’t want people to copy and use them? [Let me just insert my gratitude here for our knowledgeable and conscientious genealogy community] Or here is a favorite thing once said to me: It’s my family!  Why shouldn’t I be allowed…

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More To Think About In Nuts & Bolts

by Shannon Combs Bennett, Student What do you think the hardest part of writing is?  Maybe you find the ideas or planning hard. For me, it is the editing. Self-editing and proof reading are my downfall on many projects. Not only do I find it tedious and boring, the further my writing is away from my “natural” voice the more difficult I find it to correct. English class was never my best subject in school. Editing is a necessity though for anyone who wants to do any type of writing. In the last module of the course Skill Building: Nuts & Bolts of Reporting Research we are taught about everything you need to think about while you are writing your research. While the list may seem long and intimidating, in the syllabus it is quite a wonderful list to go through. Trust me. One important thing to keep in mind is, do you have permission to publish certain items?  Now, if it is for your files you may not be as concerned about this aspect, but remember citing your sources is vital. If you ever want to publish your work (online or in print) and it contains anything from another person you must get their permission to reprint it.  No exceptions.  I was excited that this subject was covered because it can be confusing for many people. Finally the list of suggested reading was excellent.  I have added the suggestions to my list of worthwhile books and articles. Yes, another…

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Nuts and Bolts of Report Writing

by Shannon Combs Bennett, Student Well, this is when we get into the meat and bones of the course Skill Building: Nuts & Bolts of Reporting Research. Report writing. Now don’t be scared or nervous. This was a great section on all the why’s and how’s for you to become a great report writer. Before that however you need to plan your research. The section on research planning, complete with example case studies, was an excellent outline of how the process should work. We all know, or should know, that you need to have the ground work of good research laid out before you can build your report. But, how do you do that? It is a combination of many smaller things that when merged together create a solid case for your writing.  Through the research planning section of this module the process is laid out nicely step-by-step.  Complete with online, and off line, resources for you to consult. The breakdown of the types of reports out there I think will be very helpful to anyone who has never created one before. For those of you who don’t know, or just need a refresher, the types of reports you can create are: Narrative Software formatted Letter Formal Depending on your background these may have varying degrees of difficulty for you. That is ok, too. For instance I tend to enjoy writing formal reports and have very little experience using software programs to generate reports. This is where the case study…

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